THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL LOCATION, SCHOOL SIZE, AND THE ECONOMIC LEVEL OF THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY.

GENTRY, HAROLD W.; KENNEY, JAMES B.

THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE IN 221 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND (1) CLASSIFICATION OF THE SCHOOL BY ITS URBAN, SUBURBAN, OR RURAL LOCATION, (2) SCHOOL SIZE AS MEASURED BY NUMBER OF PROFESSIONAL STAFF MEMBERS, AND (3) ECONOMIC LEVEL OF THE COMMUNITY SERVED BY THE SCHOOL. AN ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE DESCRIPTION QUESTIONNAIRE MEASURED TEACHER PERCEPTION OF FACULTY INTERACTION (DISENGAGEMENT, HINDRANCE, ESPRIT, INTIMACY) AND TEACHER PERCEPTION OF LEADER BEHAVIOR (ALOOFNESS, PRODUCTION EMPHASIS, THRUST, CONSIDERATION). THESE EIGHT DIMENSIONS FORMED SIX DIFFERENT TYPES OF ORGANIZATION CLIMATE--OPEN, AUTONOMOUS, CONTROLLED, FAMILIAR, PATERNAL, AND CLOSED. RURAL SCHOOLS WERE MORE FREQUENTLY PERCEIVED AS HAVING A "CLOSED" CLIMATE THAN URBAN AND SUBURBAN ONES. HOWEVER, 22 PERCENT OF THE RURAL SCHOOLS WERE SEEN AS "FAMILIAR." LIMITED FINANCIAL RESOURCES, LACK OF COMMUNITY ACTIVITY, AND HEAVY MIGRATION OF YOUNG TALENT MIGHT INFLUENCE RURAL RATINGS. THERE WAS A DISCERNIBLE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL SIZE AND ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE, ALTHOUGH IT WAS NOT FOUND TO BE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. AS SCHOOL SIZE INCREASED, THE CLIMATE MOVED TOWARD THE "CLOSED" END OF THE CONTINUUM. LOW INCOME SCHOOLS WERE PERCEIVED BY THEIR TEACHERS AS "CLOSED." A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS INCLUDED. THIS ARTICLE IS PUBLISHED IN "URBAN EDUCATION," VOLUME 3, NUMBER 1, P.19-31, 1967. (AF)